Deborah at Tante Esther’s

Saul Leiter

1947

Image

Photograph of woman sitting at the end of a table in front of open doors, wearing a scarf and covering her face with tea cup. — Saul Leiter was known for his photographs of street life in New York City and for his pioneering work in color photography, but he also took more intimate pictures of his family and friends. This photograph was shot early in his career, soon after he arrived in New York. He often photographed his younger sister Deborah, whom he considered his muse.

Credits

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 9.

My Own

My lovely lady is like flights of scent— the other day she opened like a flower— She is beautiful as angels in the spring— the other night her sun warmed my heart— My lady’s lips are the single…

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Comic book page split into six panels featuring a man facing the viewer in several panels and the rest with him in line at the supermarket, and English text describing waiting behind Jewish ladies at the supermarket.

American Splendor

“Standing Behind Old Jewish Ladies in Supermarket Lines” is a comic from Harvey Pekar’s autobiographical comic series American Splendor, which focused on everyday life in Cleveland, Ohio. Not an…

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On Women and Judaism

On occasion I have been asked: How can one so rooted in Jewish tradition, so at home with halakhic prescriptions and proscriptions…

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Creator Bio

Saul Leiter was an American painter and photographer, one of the first to work in color photography. Born in Pittsburgh, Leiter began studying at a rabbinical school in Cleveland, but soon changed course, moving to New York at age twenty-three to pursue a painting career. In New York, he befriended a number of fellow artists who inspired him to experiment in photography. Leiter worked for fashion magazines including Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue, all the while taking personal photographs that transmuted the bustling urban environment of Manhattan into quiet meditations on color and form. His work has recently enjoyed renewed popularity with the publication of a monograph in 2006, as well as an award-winning 2012 documentary.